Rolling the Dice on Sunday Scripture Readings

 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus -- for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry."

So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."

So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

                                              Acts 1 NRSVue 

Not many congregations that follow the ecumenical lectionary, the common schedule of Sunday scripture lessons, read them all each week. A Hebrew scripture reading, a psalm, an epistle passage, and a Gospel lesson makes for a lot of bible in the service.

I was curious about what we didn't hear this morning and found the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the Easter season replacement for a reading from one of the epistles/letters.

It was from Acts 1 and tells how Peter and the other post-resurrection followers of Jesus chose a replacement for Judas. He was the disciple who colluded with the authorities to arrest Jesus, an apprehension which led to his trial and execution on the cross. 

Points if you were aware that after Judas' mysterious death the apostles cast lots to replace him and bonus points if you knew that Matthias prevailed over Justus. 

There is so much to ponder in these few verses. Why did they figure they needed to choose another disciple/apostle when there were a growing number of believers? Why did Peter feel that it was necessary to rehash Judas' death in gory detail? (that part was conveniently left out of the reading). Why did they resort to a game of chance for such a seemingly important decision? And why did these two guys become candidates for the role, only to disappear from the record afterward?

In some respects this story is baffling and yet intriguing. Acts tells us a lot of stuff about the early church that seems somewhat mundane while also giving us the yowza events such as the story of Pentecost, to be told next Sunday morning. Of course, life is messy and there is a lot that happens along the way which isn't exactly eye-popping. Maybe there is a greater sense of authenticity when we hear about the everyday moments, along with the epic events. 

Pastors don't roll the dice on what we will hear on Sunday mornings, but it can be worthwhile to snoop around with the passages that don't make the cut!